MAGA world erupts over Andrew Tate release, Epstein stunt

• That's become especially true on issues related to sex trafficking, which was at the heart of the #Pizzagate and QAnon conspiracy theories that helped grow Trump's online base.

What's happening: On Fox News Wednesday night, Attorney General Pam Bondi promised to declassify and release secret documents related to Jeffrey Epstein, the deceased sex trafficker whose client list implicated global elites.

• On Thursday, Bondi and FBI director Kash Patel hosted pro-Trump influencers at the White House and gave them a sneak peek of the documents in binders titled, "The Epstein Files: Phase 1."
• The influencers were then photographed by White House press holding up the binders, the contents of which had not yet been publicly released. Some of them were pictured smiling and laughing.

Later that evening, the Justice Department released 200 pages of documents mostly consisting of recycled Epstein flight logs and contact information that had long been in the public domain.

• The online reaction was furious: Prominent Trump supporters accused Bondi and the influencers of staging a PR stunt and failing to release any new information.
• To make matters worse, the GOP-controlled House Judiciary Committee posted a link on X purporting to hold the "Epstein files." It instead redirected users to a video of Rick Astley singing "Never Gonna Give You Up" — a "Rickroll" prank from the 2000s.

Bondi then released a letter alleging that the FBI's New York field office was withholding thousands of pages of Epstein documents, and called for them to be turned over by Friday at 8 am ET.

Zoom in: As the chaos over the Epstein files was unfurling, Romania suddenly lifted travel restrictions on Andrew and Tristan Tate, a pair of far-right influencers who were awaiting trial on human trafficking charges.

• The British-American Tate brothers — self-proclaimed misogynists who support Trump and have a massive global audience of young men — have also been accused of rape and tax evasion in the U.K.

• The Financial Times reported that Trump officials had pressured Romanian authorities to lift the travel ban, though Trump himself denied any knowledge of the case Thursday.

The Tate brothers' arrival at Fort Lauderdale airport in Florida, where they proclaimed their innocence, set the stage for another intra-MAGA feud between mainstream conservatives and hardline provocateurs.

• Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said the Tate brothers were not welcome in his state, and that his attorney general would investigate whether any of their alleged crimes trigger Florida jurisdiction.
• "That these moral monsters have been welcomed to our shores with open arms is appalling and shameful," conservative columnist Josh Hammer wrote in a Newsweek piece shared by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.).

Between the lines: Backlash against Trump is brewing among segments of his base that are not traditionally political — but have an intense interest in the Tate and Epstein sagas.

• "If I'm gonna be fair these questions needs to be asked today. Why is the release of the Epstein list always a shit show?" tweeted Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy.
• "What's the point of booting out illegals and criminals while somehow becoming a safe haven for the Tate brothers?"